Our junior daughter is looking at summer precollege programs. Last year she went to Ringling and had a great experience. For next summer we are looking at MICA, Pratt and SVA. I’m sure RISD is great but it is significantly more expensive. Anyone have feedback or experience on these programs?
Just a quick comment re: RISD, although it appears you are ruling it out. When my D did the pre-college program in 2014, RISD was as expensive as the other programs on a per-week basis. They were more expensive overall because the duration of the program was a couple weeks longer than the others. We, too, balked at the higher cost, but fortunately she received enough in merit offers the following spring to make the extra cost worth it.
Pratt offers both a digital and traditional approach to illustration for the Pre-College program, and your D might have to choose which track to take. There will be trade-offs with either. Pratt considers illustration to be a design discipline and even in the summer program they will likely bring this perspective into the studio and focus on client-problem-solving as the goal for each project. I’d be surprised if she didn’t get a bit of digital during the Traditional track, given the popularity of the medium in the industry.
Not sure about MICA’s or SVA’s summer program; both obviously are strong in illustration in general.
Do you have more insight on how Pratts design perspective in illustration is different than say, the illustration perspective at MICA, SVA or Ringling? Their curriculum seems very different and I can’t see my D being ok with no illustration classes until her third year. You have a good point about RISDs per week cost. I suppose she could apply and see if she gets merit.
@COMom09, my D had the same initial concern regarding graphic design when we first visited Pratt during her junior year of high school. None of the studios before 3rd year were prefaced by a “GD.” However, the way it worked under the old curriculum at least (the current one is a revision; my D was in the last class before that took effect) was that the visual communications studios you took during your 2nd years gave you PLENTY of conceptual and practical training for illustration. Also for ad art and graphic. Pratt is actually the only school we visited that was able to communicate what “illustration” vs. “graphic design” vs. “ad art” actually meant, and they emphasize that the skill sets are very interchangable among the three. It’s emphasis - or rather, the specific problem the client wants you to solve - not the skill set, that sets each of them apart from the others. Most schools have the majors separated; some will even house illustration in Fine Arts and Graphic Design in the School of Design. The concepts taught will be similar, but you don’t necessarily get to mix with those other students. You graduate thinking you are an “illustrator” or a “graphic designer” or you MUST work in advertising because that was your “specific training.” What Pratt wants to do is prepare you to be a visual communications designer who can step in to solve a variety of design challenges using images and text as appropriate to the specific project. ComD students tend to do very well on job placement because they are prepared for a variety of professional options. I know my D incorporated illustration and advertising concepts in her graphic design senior projects and her website.
Another thing about Pratt - and this one is an impression from my kid - they understand the trends in the industry really well and will teach their students to embrace new technologies and media because thats what keeps you employed. You don’t learn Creative Cloud because they think that’s a great medium - you learn it because that’s what potential employers are using. So just be aware that even if your D happens to be a “traditional” illustrator relying on paint or guache, she will be encouraged to think outside the box and embrace all sorts of other media, including digital. One professor quipped that illustration can “solve the problem” with something as simple as taking a photo of a nail hammered into a piece of wood. What I enjoyed about that comment was that the project relied on several different media, both digital and non. It also relied on 2D and 3D conceptualization.
I’ve posted a lot about ComD at Pratt so you are welcome to look those up. Also, your D should speak to the Pratt ComD people about their interdisciplinary approach and the curriculum so that she’s better educated as to potential fit.
@COmom09, @BrooklynRye has kids who did pre-college at both MICA and SVA so might be able to give you advice there. Not sure if either did illustration but hopefully you can get some feedback as to what the program is like at each.
@COMom09 - Hi! My daughter is an ID major at RISD and has little to no experience with Illustration. So I can’t provide insights on that front.
I can say, aside from the per week cost similarity between RISD and other shorter-term art summer programs, that the RISD program more than any other that my daughter attended (she did MICA and FIT), simulated Foundation Year. Most students felt that if they could not survive the RISD summer, they probably would not survive RISD as well as other hardcore dedicated undergraduate art programs.
I can also tell you that RISD was very generous with merit aid. As an “academic” art school (as is Pratt), the school placed nice value on my daughter’s high school academics and standardized test scores. We received about 40% of COA which carried over each year.
Sorry to not be of more help on the Illustration front. Good luck!
@BrooklynRye That’s a great endorsement for RISD’s precollege program. We’ll have to reconsider that. I’m curious about your comment that RISD gave merit aid-their website says no merit aid-only scholarships for students who have financial need plus merit. Did you qualify for need based aid?
@COMom09 - Yes. Sorry for not being clearer. You are exactly correct. It is financial + merit. FA people were really nice and remarkably transparent. FA officer with whom we dealt actually had us come and sit on her side of the desk so we could see how the numbers worked on her computer!
@COMom09 my senior daughter attended MICA for illustration and LOVED every second of it. MICA is very interdisciplinary which is exactly what my daughter wanted. She learned so much but also fine-tuned what kind of art she wants to do and what she’s looking for in a college.
@JBStillFlying everything you described here is exactly why Pratt is tied for top two for my daughter. The ComD program is exactly everything she wants. I am hoping her academics get her some good merit so she can go! She loves MICA too.
@mommek3 good luck to her - please keep us posted. Both excellent schools!